Human rights group says AFP targeting farmers as rebels

BAGUIO CITY—The Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) disclosed this week a purported list of military targets that includes farmers and a CHRA official who have been tagged as communist rebels or sympathizers.

A photocopy of what appeared to be a military document from the Army’s 5th Infantry Division based in Ifugao was circulated at a news conference here on Thursday.

Listed in the document were names of 28 residents of Tinoc, Ifugao, complete with their addresses and affiliations, and their alleged relationship with communist rebels in the area.

ADVERTISEMENT

Jude Baggo, CHRA secretary general, who was No. 22 in the list, was classified as the “brains of the New People’s Army.”

“What is their point [when they target] people like us? That we can be neutralized anytime? This is a clear violation of our right to life and security,” Baggo said.

But the military’s Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) disowned the list, saying it does not exist.

“We did not make that list and we are not making that kind of list anymore. It is a different time now. We deny that the military is involved in making the list. This is the handiwork of other people and we don’t know what their motives are,” said Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, Nolcom commander.

Harassment

He said the military in Ifugao has been involved in civic activities such as building schools. “We cannot (target) the people there. We love them,” he said.

Baggo said people who were in the list have either been harassed

or abused, including government workers like Gabino Lindawan, an administrative aide of the Ifugao provincial agriculture and environment and resources office. Lindawan had been detained on a charge of possession of explosives.

Modesto Hanggoy, the first name in the list, had been getting frequent visits from soldiers, who interviewed him about rebel sightings in Tinoc, Baggo said.

On Nov. 5, Grayson Naogsan, son of the spokesperson of the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front, was arrested by the police at a mall in Baguio and was detained at the Ifugao provincial jail. Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon